JP2002145516A - Paper sheet processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet processing device capable of excellently folding a paper sheet with minimum structure. SOLUTION: This paper sheet processing device is provided with a folding means for folding a paper sheet or a paper sheets bundle, and a delivery means for delivering the paper sheet or the paper sheets bundle. After folding the paper sheets bundle fed from a paper sheet output device into two at a central part thereof with the folding means, the folded paper sheets bundle is delivered by the delivery means. The folding means is formed of folding rollers 451 and 452 and a pushing plate 466 for pushing a folding part of the paper sheets bundle. The folding operation is repeated several times. This operation is performed by normally and reversely rotating the folding rollers 451 and 452 plural times when folding and passing a nip of the folding rollers 451 and 452 plural times. The number of repetition of the folding operation is set in response to the number of paper sheets and/or paper sheet size.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus for performing sheet processing such as binding, punching, folding, and the like on a sheet. The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus alone or a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, a printing machine, and the like. The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus which is incorporated in a sheet output apparatus and is integrally provided with the sheet output apparatus to realize the above-described function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a sheet on which an image is recorded by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile or the like is bound, a hole is formed for filing,
Various paper processing apparatuses for performing processing such as folding a bound paper have been proposed. Examples of this are disclosed in, for example, JP-A-10-181990 and JP-A-11-19.
There is known a sheet processing apparatus having a function of performing saddle stitching and folding of a plurality of sheets as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3175. In these sheet processing apparatuses, the sheet bundle is bound (center-stitched) at the center of the sheet bundle, and is further folded (center-folded) at the center by a push plate and a folding roller, and the sheet bundle is folded in the center by a discharge roller and a discharge roller. The sheet bundle is configured to be discharged onto a stacking tray.

In the latter publication, the distance between the nips of the folding rollers for folding in the middle is increased according to the thickness of the sheet bundle, and a sheet bundle pushing member for forming a fold can follow the folding position of the sheet bundle. As a result, the sheet bundle pushing member can reliably strike the folding position of the sheet bundle.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional sheet processing apparatus having the saddle stitching and folding function, a pressing member (push plate) plate serving as a guide for folding the sheet and a folding roller for folding are used. In order to perform good folding, it is necessary to increase the nip pressure of the folding roller, perform the folding operation by using a plurality of folding rollers, or perform the folding operation described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-19317.
As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5 (1999) -2005, a structure for changing the interval between folding rollers is required. Such a configuration results in an increase in the size and complexity of the device, and inevitably increases the cost.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of performing good center folding with a minimum configuration.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a center folding means and a paper discharging means for discharging a discharged paper or a bundle of papers. In a sheet processing apparatus that folds a central portion of a sheet bundle that has been folded in half by the center folding unit and then discharges the sheet by a sheet discharging unit, when the center folding unit performs the center folding, the center folding operation is repeated a plurality of times. Features.

The center-folding means comprises, for example, a folding roller and a pressing plate for pressing the folded portion of the sheet bundle. When the center-folding operation is repeated a plurality of times, the folding roller is rotated forward and backward a plurality of times during the folding operation. Pass the nip of the folding roller several times. Further, the folding roller may also serve as a paper discharging means after the folding is completed, and after the folding operation is completed, the paper may be discharged through the nip as it is. Note that the number of times the center folding operation is repeated is set according to the number of sheets and / or the sheet size. In addition, this setting can be made based on information input by the user.

Further, the apparatus further comprises a saddle stitching means, wherein the saddle stitching means binds a central portion of the sheet bundle before the saddle stitching, and the saddle stitching means is arranged along a position bound by the saddle stitching means. Folding can also be performed.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0010] 1. 1. Mechanical Configuration 1.1 Overall Configuration FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus as a sheet processing apparatus connected to a copying machine. Referring to this figure,
The configuration and operation of each unit will be described.

The paper post-processing device 2 is connected to a paper outlet of the copying machine 1. As a result, the copy sheet discharged from the copying machine main body 1 is carried into the main body of the paper post-processing apparatus from the entrance guide plate 201 of the paper post-processing apparatus 2, and is conveyed into the paper post-processing apparatus 2 by the conveyance rollers 202 and 203. You. A well-known rotary punch 501 is provided on the upstream side of the branch claws 211 and 221. When an instruction of a punching operation is issued from the copying machine 1, the rotary punch 501 is driven to move the rotary punch 501 to a predetermined position (paper rear end) of the paper. Perforate.

When the non-staple mode is selected on the operation unit 12 (see FIG. 17 described later) of the copying machine body 1, the sheet passes through the branch claws 211 and 221 (normally, the branch claws 211 and 221 Non-staple transport path 2
The sheet is discharged to and stacked on the lower stacking tray 301 or the upper stacking tray 321 by the sheet discharging roller 211 (located in the 20 direction). At this time, the discharge guide plate 231 is in a closed state, and the discharge rollers 232 are in contact with the discharge rollers 211.

The lower stacking tray 301 and the upper stacking tray 321 are provided so as to be able to move up and down by independent driving units (not shown), respectively, and can be moved to the sheet discharging position of the sheet discharging roller 211 respectively. The lower stacking tray 301 and the upper stacking tray 321 move according to the selected discharge mode, and the stacking tray can be switched. Further, the sheet post-processing apparatus is provided with an interrupt tray 214. When the interrupt tray discharge mode is selected in the operation unit 12 of the copying machine 1, the branch claw 211 rotates, and the sheet is interrupted. Transported to the tray transport path 210,
The paper is discharged onto the interruption tray 214 by the paper discharge roller 213 and stacked. Further, sensors S1 and S2 for detecting the sheet surface of the sheet on the upper stacking tray 321 or the lower stacking tray 301 are provided at the sheet discharging positions of the sheet discharging roller 211 and the folding roller 451, respectively. The stacking amount can be known from the detection outputs of the paper surface sensors S1 and S2 and the respective positions of the lower stacking tray 301 and the upper stacking tray 321. The paper surface sensor S1 corresponds to a paper surface sensor 332 described later.

The combination in which the staple mode is selected in the operation unit 12 of the copying machine main body 1 is the combination of the branch claw 221
Operates to carry the paper into the staple transport path 240, and the staple transport path 24 is transported by the transport rollers 241.
0 is conveyed to the staple tray 402 side, and the sheet is discharged to the staple tray 402 by the staple tray discharge roller 242 and stacked on the staple tray 402. The sheet discharged to the staple tray 402 is dropped one sheet at a time in the downward direction of the staple tray 402 by the beating roller 250 and pressed against the sheet rear end reference fence 410 to align the rear end of the sheet. Further, the jogger fence 422 performs alignment in the sheet width direction (direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction) for each sheet. The staple tray 402 is used when executing functions such as paper alignment, saddle stitching (staple), and center folding, and functions as a paper processing tray.

When the edge binding is further selected from the operation unit 12 at the time of mode selection, the discharge guide plate 231 is rotated by the rotation of the cam 234 as shown in FIG.
When the binding is performed at the rear end of the sheet bundle by the end face binding stapler 401 after the final sheet is aligned by the jogger fence 422 when the binding at the rear end of the sheet is selected through the opening state via the Alternatively, binding processing is performed at two places. The sheet bundle that has been subjected to the binding process has at least the leading end thereof discharged by the discharge rollers 211 by a discharge claw 423 integrated with a discharge belt (not shown).
Lifted until it reaches position. Thereafter, the discharge guide plate 231 is closed by the rotation of the cam 234, and is pressed against the discharge roller 211 by the weight of the discharge guide plate 231. The sheet is discharged and stacked on the stacking tray 301 or the upper stacking tray 321.

1.2 Saddle Stitching Processing Mechanism FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mechanism for performing saddle stitching.

When the saddle stitching is further selected from the operation unit 12 when the mode is selected, after the final sheet is aligned by the jogger fence 422, the sheet bundle is centered by the ejection claw 423 as described above. It is lifted upward so as to be located at the binding position, and at the center thereof by two saddle stapling staplers 403 provided at a predetermined interval (120 mm in the present embodiment) in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. Two-point binding processing is performed. At the position facing the saddle stapler 403, two clinchers 407 attached to a rotatable fixing member 408 are rotated by the eccentric cam 409 as shown in the operation explanatory view of FIG. By moving in the direction 403 and stopping at a predetermined position, the saddle stapling stapler 403 operates in the direction of the clincher 407 to sandwich the sheet bundle and perform a binding process at a predetermined position of the sheet bundle. This operation is shown in more detail in FIG.

That is, the bundle of sheets saddle-stitched by the operation shown in FIGS.
Is lifted upward by the saddle stapler 403
When the position of the stapled stitch reaches a predetermined position, it stops. Next, the paper discharge guide plate 231 in an open state shown by a dashed line in FIG. 11 to be described later is closed as shown by a solid line, and the vicinity of the leading end of the sheet bundle is sandwiched. Further, a drive motor (not shown) of the discharge roller 211 is locked, and the discharge roller 211 is fixed to fix the leading end of the sheet bundle.
After the folding plate 466 pushes the needle position of the sheet bundle toward the opposing folding rollers 451 and 452 as shown in FIG. The sheet is discharged to the stacking tray 301 and stacked.

As described above, the leading end of the sheet bundle is
When the sheet bundle is fixed by 31, the movement of the sheet bundle caused by the bending caused by the pressing of the folding plate 466 is performed only from a fixed direction of the rear end of the sheet bundle that is not fixed, and the folding position is stabilized. Further, by locking the paper discharge roller 211, the paper bundle can be securely fixed by the paper discharge guide plate 231.

After the saddle stitching, the sheet bundle is discharged when the center folding is not performed in the same manner as in the case of the edge stapling described above.

1.3 Folding Mechanism FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a mechanism for performing a sheet folding process.

In the same figure, a folding plate 466 is provided with a shaft 464 integrated with the folding plate 466 so as to be movable along a guide groove 465, and the rotational driving force of the folding plate driving motor 461 is intermediate. Gear 462
Is transmitted to the cam 452 via the link 463, and the folding plate 466 is reciprocated by the link 463. FIG.
As can be seen from the perspective view showing the positional relationship between the folding plate 466 and the folding rollers 451 and 452, the folding plate 4
66 are provided with three projections 466a, 466b, 46
6c, and two convex portions 466a, 466 on both sides.
Reference numeral 66c is provided at the same position as the staple position of the saddle stitch stapler 403 (in the present embodiment, at 120 mm intervals). The central convex portion 466b is provided with the saddle stapling stapler 4 described above.
03 is provided at the center of the two needle positions.

As shown in FIG. 5, folding rollers 451, 45
2 transmits the driving force of the folding roller driving motor 453 to the driving gear pulley 455 via the timing belt 454,
The driving force is further transmitted to the intermediate gear 456 and the driven gear 457, and both the folding rollers 451 and 452 are configured to rotate. The driving gear pulley 455, the intermediate gear 456, and the driven gear 457 are connected to the arms 458, 4
It is connected by 59 and is configured to be movable while maintaining the distance between the axes. This allows the folding roller 4
Even when the sheet bundle is sandwiched between the rollers 51 and 452 and the rollers are separated from each other, the rotational driving force can be reliably transmitted to the folding rollers 451 and 452. Further, the folding rollers 451 and 452 are elastically urged in directions approaching each other by a tension spring (not shown), and are pressed against each other at a predetermined force in the nip portion.

2. 2. Operation 2.1 Operation of Folding Process FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram showing an operation when the sheet bundle is folded and discharged by the folding plate 466.

In these figures, a folding plate 466 is shown.
The convex portions 466a, 466b, and 466c press the staple position of the sheet bundle as shown in FIG.
The sheet is advanced from the nip position of 452 to a further overlapping position, and the center of the sheet bundle is folded by pressing and rotating the folding rollers 451 and 452. Fold plate 4
The portion of the sheet bundle sandwiched between the 66 convex portions 466a, 466b, 466c and the folding rollers 451, 452 cannot be pressed directly by the folding roller pairs 451, 452, so that the folded state is deteriorated by the thickness of the folding plate 466. Regarding the folded state of the staple position, the fold becomes worse than the place without the staple due to the thickness of the staple, so
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, by matching 6a and 466c with the staple position of the sheet bundle, the position where the folding state deteriorates coincides with the staple position, and the minimum folding state can be ensured.

Further, the convex portion 466 of the folding plate 466 is provided.
a, 466b, and 466c press the sheet bundle and fix the leading end of the sheet bundle at a position overlapping the nip position of the folding rollers 451 and 452, and the folding plate 466 faces the needle position of the sheet bundle with the folding roller 451. , 452, and the folding rollers 451, 452 perform folding processing on the central portion of the sheet.
Discharge to 1 and load. At this time, as described above, the folding position is stabilized by fixing the leading end of the sheet bundle with the sheet discharge guide plate 231 as shown in FIG. Further, by locking the paper discharge roller 211, the paper discharge guide plate 23
1 can surely fix the sheet bundle.

Also, as shown in FIG.
The projections 466a, 466b, and 466c push the sheet bundle and advance to a position where the folding rollers 451 and 452 overlap the nip position.
In the operation of folding the central portion of the sheet bundle by pressing and rotating the projection 52, the projection 4
66a, 466b, 466c are folding rollers 451, 45
2, it is necessary to retreat from the pressurized state of the sheet bundle. At this time, the portions where the folding plate 466 is sandwiched between the folding rollers 451 and 452 are convex portions 466a, 466b and 466c.
And the folding rollers 451, 45
2, the frictional force is small, and the load on the drive unit when retreating is small.

The projection of the folding plate 466 has two projections.
If it is a single position, the sheet bundle is
2, the central portion of the sheet bundle is not completely pressed but bends, and wrinkles occur in the central portion in the folded state. Therefore, three convex portions 466a, 466b, and 466c are provided. Further, the folding plate 466 pushes just above the staple position bound by the saddle stapler 403 (FIGS. 8 and 9), and hooks the staples of a sheet bundle whose leading end is fixed by the discharge guide plate 231 to friction. The folding roller is pushed in the directions of 451 and 452 while receiving the resistance caused by the above (FIG. 10). This makes it possible to perform folding processing in which the staple position and the folding position of the sheet bundle surely match.

After folding the sheet bundle as described above, conventionally,
As shown in FIG. 7C, the folded portion is the folding roller 45.
After passing through the nip portion 1452, the sheet bundle is discharged as it is. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7D, the folding rollers 451 and 452 are reversely rotated to return the sheet bundle to the upstream side. The folds of the creased sheet bundle are guided again to the nip portions of the folding rollers 451 and 452, and are passed through the nip again. Thereafter, the folding rollers 451 and 452 are rotated forward to advance the folding plate 466 again, and the sheet bundle is guided again to the nip portion of the folding rollers 451 and 452, and the sheet is further folded and discharged. in this way,
In this embodiment, the folds are three-fold rollers 451, 4
Since the sheet passes through the nip portion at 52, the fold can be reliably performed and a good fold can be formed.

When the sheet size of the sheet bundle to be folded is large or the number of sheets is small, good folding can be performed without performing the folding operation a plurality of times as described above. You will lose sex.
Therefore, the optimum number of times of folding can be set according to the size and the number of sheets. In other words, when the folding operation is performed with the optimal number of times of folding set according to the size and the number of sheets,
Good folding can be performed while minimizing the decrease in productivity.

Depending on the thickness of the paper to be used and the nature of the paper, it may be better for the user to be able to arbitrarily set the number of times of the above-mentioned folding operation. Therefore, in this embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 12, which will be described later, the user can select or input the number of times of folding from the operation unit 12. The details of setting the number of times of folding and inputting the number of times of folding will be described later.

2.2 Discharge and Stack Mechanism and Operation of Folded Sheet Bundle As shown in FIGS. 10 and 12, the sheet bundle is pushed between folding rollers 451 and 452 by a folding plate 466 at the center of the sheet bundle. The sheet bundle folded in the middle is directly discharged from the discharge port opened in the end fence 331 by the folding rollers 451 and 452. The discharged sheet bundle is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the sheet bundle is ejected from the folding rollers 451 and 452 from the folding side F of the sheet bundle first, and when the sheet bundle is stacked on the lower stacking tray 301 or the sheet stack stacked on the lower stacking tray 301, Are stacked with the folding side F facing the downstream side in the transport direction (in the figure, facing obliquely upward).

In this embodiment, as can be seen from the main part front view showing the open / close end fence portion (discharge port) and the lower stacking tray 301 in FIG.
The opening / closing end fence 311 is provided at the discharge port portion of the printer. That is, the sheet bundle that has been subjected to the folding process by the folding rollers 451 and 452 is opened and closed by the end fence 3.
11 is opened and discharged onto the lower stacking tray 301. The open / close end fence 311 is urged in a closing direction by an elastic member (not shown), and the open / close end fence 311 has a sensor 31 for detecting a closed state.
3 are provided. The sensor 313 detects a case where the saddle stitched sheet bundle is abnormally stopped during discharge. The open / close end fence 311 has a maximum open / close angle, and is elastically urged in the closing direction as described above.

The open / close end fence 311 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, in the case of normal discharge, the sheet is flush with the end fence 331 by the elastic urging by the elastic member, and along the end fence 331 of the lower stacking tray 301 or the upper stacking tray 321. It is configured so as not to hinder the elevating operation. Here, the open / close end fence 311 is set flush with the end fence 331, but may be retracted from the end fence 331.

3. Control Configuration (Electrical Configuration) FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet processing system including the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As will be understood from the above description, this system includes a sheet post-processing device 2 and this sheet post-processing device 2.
And a copying machine (paper output device) 1 connected to the printer. Each of the devices 1 and 2 is provided with a control unit 10 and 20 having a CPU and a ROM and a RAM attached to the CPU, respectively. 21 and the contents of control of the center folding unit 22 are determined. That is, the sheet post-processing apparatus 2 has a configuration in which the control unit 20 controls the saddle stitching unit 21 and the center folding unit 22, and the control of the center folding unit 22 further includes a folding roller unit 23 and a folding plate unit 24. And the folding roller unit 23 controls the folding motor 45 as described above.
3, the driving of the folding plate drive motor 461 is controlled in the folding plate section 24. The control unit 20 also controls the driving units of the punch unit 31, the edge binding unit 32, and the paper ejection guide unit 33, and the number-of-folding setting unit 34. On the other hand, on the copying machine 1 side, the control unit 10 controls the display unit 11, the operation unit 12, and the paper output control unit 13. The display unit 11 is configured by a liquid crystal display device, and the operation unit 12 is configured by a touch panel arranged on the front surface of the liquid crystal display device.

In such a control configuration, the information input to the operation unit 12 of the copying machine 1 includes information on the presence / absence of saddle stitching processing and information on the presence / absence of center folding processing as shown in FIG.
These pieces of instruction information are selected by touching a desired display portion of the operation unit 12 and transmitted to the sheet post-processing 2 side. Based on these input information, information such as the sheet size, the number of sheets to be bound (the number of folded sheets), and the processing mode is transmitted from the control unit 10 of the copying machine 1 to the control unit 10 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 1.
The control unit 20 of the sheet post-processing device 2 controls the saddle stitching unit 21 and the center folding unit 22 based on the information. In this embodiment, the number of times of half-folding is set by the center-folding number setting unit 34 according to the sheet size and / or the number of sheets to be bound (the number of sheets to be half-folded).

As described above, the setting of the number of times of folding is performed based on the sheet size and / or the number of sheets (the number of folding sheets) of the sheet bundle to be subjected to the folding from the copying machine 1 on the sheet post-processing apparatus 2 side. Set automatically. However, if the thickness and properties of the sheet are special, good folding may not be obtained with a pre-programmed number of times of folding. Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of half-folds can be set by a user operation. That is,
When the center fold is set on the screen of FIG.
The screen is switched to the center-folding number selection screen shown in FIG. The number of half-folds is set as the default for automatic 12c, and if the setting key 12d is pressed unless otherwise selected,
The processing is automatically performed according to the number of times set by the number-of-folds setting section 34. On the other hand, if the automatic operation is not convenient, one of the selection keys 12a 1 to 5 is pressed to make a selection. The number of times selected is displayed in the number-of-folds display field 12b. In this screen, when a number is input from a ten-key (not shown), the number of half-folds is displayed in the half-fold number display field 12b. The number of half-folds is entered by either method,
When the user presses 2d, the input number of times of folding is input to the number of times of folding setting section 34 of the sheet post-processing apparatus 2, and the number of times of folding is manually set. Return key 1 after such setting is completed
Pressing 2e returns to the initial screen of FIG.

The number of times of folding, which is selected on the number-of-times-of-folding selection screen shown in FIG.
This is the number of times the nip passes from the upstream side to the downstream side.
Therefore, for example, when “2” is selected, the sheet bundle passes through the nip between the three folding rollers 451 and 452, and when “3” is selected, the sheet bundle passes five times. By executing the number of times of half-folding in this manner, it is possible to reliably make a crease on the sheet bundle regardless of the type, properties, thickness, etc. of the sheet.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the center folding is performed by the center folding means, the center folding operation is repeated a plurality of times, so that a new structure for performing a plurality of diffractions becomes unnecessary. In addition, good center folding can be performed according to the thickness of the sheet bundle and the sheet size.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the center folding means comprises a folding roller and a pressing plate for pressing the folded portion of the sheet bundle. Since the sheet is rotated and passed through the nip of the folding roller a plurality of times, the folding operation can be performed a plurality of times only by the normal and reverse rotation of the folding roller.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the folding roller also serves as a sheet discharging means after the folding is completed, and after the folding operation is completed, the sheet is discharged through the nip as it is, so that the folded sheet bundle is discharged. A paper mechanism is not required, and a folding operation and a discharging operation of a sheet bundle can be performed with a minimum configuration, thereby simplifying the configuration and suppressing an increase in cost.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the number of times the center folding operation is repeated is set according to the number of sheets and / or the sheet size, so that a reduction in productivity according to the object to be folded is minimized. Good folds can be realized while suppressing them.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the number of times the center folding operation is repeated is set based on the information input by the user. It is possible for the user to cope with the situation, thereby making it possible to perform favorable folding according to the sheet thickness and the properties of the sheet.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the saddle stitching means is further provided, and the center of the sheet bundle is bound by the saddle stitching means before the middle folding, and the center folding means is bound at the position bound by the saddle stitching means. , The folding position is reliably defined, and excellent folding can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is for describing the present embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet post-processing apparatus according to an embodiment connected to a copying machine.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a mechanism unit that performs saddle stitching processing of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the saddle stitching mechanism unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of the mechanism section of FIG. 2 in further detail.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a mechanism unit that performs a sheet folding process of the sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a positional relationship between a folding plate and a folding roller in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory diagram showing an operation when a sheet bundle is folded by a folding plate and discharged.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a folding position and a folding operation related to a staple when a sheet bundle is folded by a folding plate;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a folding position when a sheet bundle is folded by a folding plate.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a folding plate is folded together with a sheet bundle so as to protrude further from a nip of a folding roller, and is folded.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sheet discharging guide plate is closed and a folding operation is started with the vicinity of the leading end of the sheet bundle sandwiched therebetween.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a leading end of a sheet bundle is fixed, and a folding plate presses a needle position of the sheet bundle in a direction of an opposing folding roller to perform a folding process on a central portion of the sheet.

FIG. 13 is a main part front view showing an opening / closing end fence and a lower stacking tray.

FIG. 14 is a main part front view showing a state in which the folded end of the sheet bundle is discharged toward the downstream side in the sheet discharging direction and is stacked.

FIG. 15 is a front view of a main part showing a state during normal paper ejection.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a sheet processing system including a sheet post-processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

17 is an operation unit 1 in the sheet processing system of FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation screen of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper output apparatus (copier) 2 Paper post-processing apparatus 10 Control part 11 Display part 12 Operation part 12a Selection key 12b Number of times display column 13 Paper output control part 20 Control part 21 Saddle stitching part 22 Center folding part 23 Folding roller part 24 Fold plate part 34 Number of times of folding set part 331 End (rear end) fence 451 Fold roller 452 Fold roller 466 Fold plate

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A center folding device comprising: a center folding unit; and a sheet discharging unit for discharging a sheet or a sheet bundle, wherein a central portion of a sheet bundle sent from a sheet output device is folded into two by the center folding unit. A sheet processing apparatus for discharging a sheet by a sheet discharging unit, wherein the center folding operation is repeated a plurality of times when the center folding is performed by the center folding unit. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the center folding unit includes a folding roller and a pressing plate that presses a folded portion of the sheet bundle. When the center folding operation is repeated a plurality of times, the folding roller is rotated forward and reverse a plurality of times during the folding operation. 2. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet passes through the nip of the folding roller a plurality of times. 3. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the folding roller also serves as a sheet discharging means after the folding is completed, and after the folding operation is completed, the sheet is passed through the nip and discharged. 4. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of times the center folding operation is repeated is set according to the number of sheets and / or the sheet size. 5. The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of times the center folding operation is repeated is set based on information input by a user. 6. A saddle stitching means, further comprising: a center portion of a sheet bundle bound by the saddle stitching means before the center folding is performed; The sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is folded.